HELP! Can't get it in! "Engine fan"

[Duc Hunter]

Hope that title got someones attention!

My factory engine fan and housing were cracked and rubbing so I am replacing them. I am replacing them with the EPS Aluminum housing and fan. While I am in there I am replacing my good alternator with a Bosch unit, so I do not go through all this trouble only to have the alternator crap out on me later, and have to do it all over again.

My issue is the old housing came out with a little wiggling. The new one will NOT go in. If I get the top bolts to line up with the shroud, the bottom is not in far enough. When I have the bottom in and over the centering pin, I cannot tilt the top into the shroud. I thought the alternator cover (with its guide vanes) was causing me the issue, as they fit so close to the shroud. That is not the case though, as even without it I have the same issue.

My indy says I should be able to set the bottom in over that pin and tilt the top in, which seems impossible to me. It looks to me like I need to get the engine cover up a little to give me room to tilt the housing in. I have done a lot of searching, and no one talks about how they got theirs back in? Can anyone tell me the trick?
The really interesting part is I can get the factory cracked housing in and out without to much trouble, though it is cracked and it does not have an alternator or fan in it.

Here is the alternator cover with its guide vanes, in-case no one knows what I am referring to.


Here are some shots of how the top won't tilt in when the bottom is in.

[john walker's workshop]

Never tried one of those. Is the OD the same on both?

[pors1968]

Probably rear alter cover or alternateur did you mark them.they are bolt wrong.

[grizzfan]

I've recently gone through this and I'll agree it's one of the toughest jobs I've ever done on my car.

I think, perhaps, that the air guide vanes, as you call them, are part of the problem. You have to orient them, or rotate the vane, so that they are more to the left side. The holes in the vane will line up in various positions but if oriented/rotated to the left it might solve your problem.

The other part of the problem is that left-to-right cross-member that sits between the rear motor mounts. I wanted to remove mine but was afraid to. Perhaps someone could chime in on whether that is a good idea or not. It would certainly give you more working room. A photo of this area is attached.

Best,

Tom

[Flat6pac]

You need the alternator mounted with the voltage regulator in the 12 oclock position on fan shroud. Nothing else will do. That puts the extension in the correct relationship to the shroud so everything fits.
Roll the top of the housing under the shroud and push the housing up as you install the bottom of the fan housing on the locator pin.
Bruce

[mhackney]

I just did this install with a Porsche housing on Saturday. I would go back to basics...

Remove the alt from the shroud and try to install just the shroud. If you can't get that in without the other shrubbery, you're not going to get it in. I had to remove one bolt on the lower left black sheet metal "triangle" (there is a photo in my recent thread). This gave enough room for it to fit. Also note that there is a pin (~4mm D) at the bottom of the opening for a matching slot in the shroud. You have to have that pin located in order for the top to slide in.

Once you have the shroud fitting properly, then install the alt. In my case, the voltage regulator built into the alt faced down - 6 o'clock position (83 SC). In this orientation, the rectangular opening on the plastic vane shroud goes down. I was able to slide that over the wires and attache them. Then attach this little shroud to the alt/shroud. It should go in then

[boyt911sc]

Measure the outside diameter and thickness of both alternator fan housing and compare the dimensions. Focus on the bottom section where the slot for the pin is going to. They may look very alike but there could be significant dimensional differences between them to effect the mounting process. I just installed a complete alternator fan and housing 2 days ago. There was sufficient space between the housing and the fiberglas shroud. Something is oddly different if you are having a problem putting the housing back on the engine.

Tony

[RSTarga]

try putting the new housing and fan in without the alternator or shroud to check dimensions.
Or just the housing if you've already mounted the alternator to the fan.

[grant lyon]

On my OEM housing, the slot is offset to the right ~5mm (CCW) of the vertical ignition timing mark in the housing. From the look of your 1st photo, it looks to me like you need t rotate the housing maybe 15° CCW before trying to engage the slot. IIRC, I was able to put the pin in the open space outside of the slot boxed/enclosed by webs and I had a similar problem since the housing is tilted. With the pin in the slot, the housing is more or less parallel to the motor (shaft) and it slides (translation) straight under the shroud (maybe some lifting of the shroud) without any tilting action.

[Duc Hunter]

Well after calling EPS, and working with it (with just the bare housing as suggested above) I managed to get it to go in/out empty like the old one. Progress!!

However....with the alternator cover in place the guide vanes seem to make it next to impossible to get it in. Clearly they were designed to fit basically flush to the shroud. Right now my alternator (1989 Carrera 3.2) has the black voltage regulator on the top, the gap in that cover over the VR, and the vanes start at the top and drop down and to the drivers side of the car. Is this right?

[timmy2]

Sounds correct. Here is a photo of my '78 with everything in the correct orientation as I took it apart. You can see the vanes and the slot for the locating pin.

[Duc Hunter]

Well now it goes in with everything......EXCEPT the dam alternator cover. Those vanes are resting on the dam shroud when it is in position, and allow ZERO tilt. My inclination is to take a grinder to them to clearance them.....but I know that should not be required. That is, unless the system is designed only to be put together shroud off. I cannot eve see where to take bolts out to let the shroud lift up on my motor.

Either I am a complete idiot (possible), you guys are complete geniuses with pixy dust (probable), or I am missing something.

I will say that when I get done with this, EPS is getting a peace of my mind.

Thank you gain for al of the help. I am a pretty experienced home mechanic, so this stuff REALLY fries me. into my second full day to do a job that should have take 2.5 hours...mostly thanks to EPS.

[mhackney]

Chris, I just want to make sure it's clear - you install the shroud and alt assembled but NOT the plastic cover. There are 6 threaded posts on the alt that mate to 6 holes in the shroud. There are 5 holes on the cover, the large rectangular cutout is where the 6th would have been. I attached the alt to the shroud at that one post first - outside the car. Then I inserted the plastic cover with the wiring coming though the opening and pushing it forward to the front of the car so it is out of the way. They I inserted the shroud/alt and got it into place. Once in position, attach the wires to the alt. Since the alt/shroud is floating, you can rotate it to make the terminals more accessible. Once the wiring is attached, then you pull the cover back towards the alternator and position it on the 5 posts. This was a bit tricky for me as there is not a lot of space and it would get hung up on a post or 2. But 4 minutes of trying and I got it over the posts. From there you can install the 5 nuts and washers. Finally, you align the entire assembly and tighten down the strap and the two bolts and hose hangers on the top through the engine shroud.

Is this how you are doing it?

[SCadaddle]

^ That's how it's done.

I'll add:

Make sure the battery is disconnected when doing all of this, and when you are done installing it and ready to go live at the battery briefly touch the positive lead at the battery and make sure it doesn't attempt to weld (as in MAJOR sparks!) to the post of the battery indicating something is amiss!

[mhackney]

LOL, Good Point SCadaddle!

[RSTarga]

The black voltage regulator should be at the bottom, not the top. There is a cutout in the shroud that makes room for it. Also does your new alternator go to the same depth in the fan as the old one? You might need to machine the inside of the fan hub to seat at the same depth as the old one.

[mhackney]

RSTarga, look at the photo of the shroud he posted. The cutout is on the same side as the 2 metal fins. On mine, the cutout is opposite. I've seen photos both ways. I suspect the proper orientation is "fins up" and then position the voltage regulator to fit the rectangular cutout. Perhaps the early 82-83 SCs with the integrated VR were "VR down" but then it was changed somewhere along the way? Just a wild @$$ guess!

[RSTarga]

The fins are to direct cooling air DOWN to the cylinders. Here is a properly oriented shroud.

[mhackney]

Agreed on the orientation of the fins. That's how mine is. But look at his shroud, the cutout is under one of the fins. If the cut out was facing up, the fins would be oriented properly as per your photo. Like I said, I'm taking a guess here based on what I see in the photos. I am getting senile.

Your shroud is even different than mine, I have a complete cutout so there are only 5 peripheral holes. So does his. Yours has an enclosed opening. Is that because your VR is separate and mounted on the side panel?

[mhackney]

You can see my shroud here, note the plastic surrounding the top hole is broken off. I show how I repair that in my thread posted Saturday.